BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the death of village level worker (VLW) of Haridaspur panchayat in Jajpur district, Smitarani Biswal under mysterious circumstances.
Stating that delay in the arrest of husband of Haridaspur sarpanch and five other suspects has led to doubts about the sincerity of police investigation into the case, Congress leader Satya Prakash Nayak alleged that senior BJD leaders have a hand in the death. Criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and 5T Secretary VK Pandian for their complete silence on the issue, Nayak said till now a team from the State Women’s Commission has not visited the place.
Meanwhile, the 11-member fact finding team formed by OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik under the leadership of party MLA Mohammad Moquim on Friday met the family of the deceased.The team also met Jajpur SP and demanded an impartial probe into the matter.It may be mentioned that Smitarani had gone to Haridaspur panchayat to disburse old age pension among the beneficiaries on Wednesday.
After disbursing pension at Bhadanga village, Biswal had gone to the husband of Sarpanch Rupesh Bhadra’s guest house in Baligari area in latter’s car to freshen up in the afternoon.
She was allegedly found dead in Bhadra’s personal room after some time, police said. Though Dharmasala police have detained five persons, including the husband of Haridaspur Sarpanch, in connection with the death of Smitarani, no arrests have been made even after 36 hours.